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What were the top trends in 2017 for travel jobs?

Travel Jobs – 2017 Trends

The travel jobs market is constantly evolving to meet the needs of the industry and its customers. For example, while traditional travel roles like travel consultant remain, the skills and experience required in the 21st century for this role are vastly different to what was required decades ago. The same could be said for the marketing manager of a tour operator, the product manager for an incentive house, the HR officer in a call centre.

As existing travel roles evolve and new travel jobs are created, employees begin to desire more from their positions and the travel brands for which they work, which leads to a highly competitive travel job marketplace – what we’re seeing today.

What was trending in the world of travel jobs during 2017?

Overseas travel jobs

Impact of Brexit

Workplace diversity

Mobile and Social Media first

Matching company culture

Overseas travel jobs

Unsurprisingly, those travel industry jobs that offered an employee the opportunity to work overseas on either a permanent or temporary basis proved the most popular with candidates in 2017.

In a world where travel is becoming more accessible, candidates are increasingly seeking out work-place opportunities that are in countries other than where they would normally to travel to or live.

Previously, jobs in the travel industry may have required workers to remain behind a desk, viewing the world through the product they sell. Today, remote working has become exceptionally popular. You can work wherever, whenever and travel roles need to take this flexibility into account, especially when one considers this is a strong recruitment tool for the millennial generation in particular.

There also appears to be a growing trend of international companies hiring more British staff. Great Britain has one of the leading travel industries in the world and, as such, people who have trained in the UK and understand the market fully, become more desirable for international travel jobs.

As a global travel recruitment firm, Progressive Travel Recruitment has access to travel roles worldwide. By registering your CV with us today, we can help you to achieve your goal in finding the perfect overseas travel job. You can also search our database for roles currently available, making it even easier to cherry-pick your perfect travel job.

The impact of Brexit

The real impact of Brexit has yet to be understood, but if the flow of candidates is restricted or stopped, the already diminishing talent pool will shrink further. We currently see a candidate-driven marketplace in the UK. Reducing the supply of travel talent will further exacerbate it. Our blogpost in April outlined the impact that Brexit could have on travel recruitment and travel jobs in the UK, with the overarching message that the travel industry needed to be more flexible with their requirements when recruiting for travel vacancies.

Workplace diversity

The benefits of having a diverse workforce with staff from all generations, races, social backgrounds, etc. are increasingly being recognised, with companies looking to attract qualified candidates from different backgrounds to fill their travel roles. A diversified travel workforce is well placed to understand the requirements of a range of customers, encourages creativity and innovation and fosters understanding. Travel jobs in 2017 were filled with diversity in mind and we see this trend continuing into 2018.

Mobile and Social Media first

Interestingly, 2017 saw the rise in job applications and job search through mobile and social media. At Progressive Travel Recruitment, this was the first year we saw travel job search traffic from mobile devices exceed desktop. It was also the year that saw more candidates rely on social media to keep abreast of and apply for new travel jobs. As the workforce becomes increasingly mobile, we believe this trend towards mobile first will increase in 2018.

Matching company culture

In a candidate-driven marketplace, travel brands are having to work increasingly harder to stand out from the crowd and attract top talent. Candidates often have their pick of travel roles available and there are more travel vacancies than candidates to fill them currently. Company culture is one area in which travel brands can stand out. Today’s workforce wants to know that their travel job is meaningful and that they share the values of the travel company for which they are working.

Looking into the future

In 2018, we expect that the most desirable jobs in the travel industry will be those relating to the future of travel. The top product travel jobs will start to point towards specialist needs, one of those will be the development of AI software for use in the travel industry. Top-tier companies will start to create positions for travel specialists who have the technical capabilities to aid them in building their future.

We believe that candidates for jobs in the travel industry should constantly work to learn new skills to help expand their portfolio and make them invaluable to any travel company.

The individuals with cutting-edge skills will be most in demand for the travel jobs of the future and will have their pick from any travel company they choose.

In response to individuals making themselves invaluable, we expect business within the travel industry will start to offer much more enticing packages in order to secure the top travel talent for their brand.

Now is the time to start honing your skills and ensuring you are the top-pick for jobs in the travel industry of the future. For more information on how to improve your skill-set and set yourself out from the crowd, get in touch with one of our team today.